


Under the Stars

by dragonsofarlathan



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Blighted Dreams, Drabble, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Nightmares, Stress from an impending blight, a wee bit of angst but it's not bad, as usual, i guess, there really isn't much to tag, ven being the leader and looking at a map and keeping watch instead of sleeping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-21 02:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16150526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonsofarlathan/pseuds/dragonsofarlathan
Summary: A blighted dream interrupts Alistair's nap while he and Venowen are on watch.





	Under the Stars

The camp was quiet except for the crackling of the dying fire in the center of the circle of tents. Morrigan still had her own camp several kilometers away from the rest of the companions, but everyone else, including Bodham and Sandal, stayed close to each other in case there was another attack. They took turns on watch, and that night, it was Alistair and Venowen’s turn. Leliana and Sten would relieve them when the first bits of light crept across the horizon, but until then, it was just the two of them for hours.

 

Venowen sat with her back against a rock, Tathas to her right and Alistair to her left. Both were sleeping, of course, even though Alistair was technically supposed to stay awake with Venowen. His head was rested against her shoulder, his face an expression of ease while he snored quiet enough that it was more cute than annoying. With Lothering gone and parts of Redcliffe and Gwaren threatened, they were moving constantly, trying to enlist all the help they could before it was too late. Between fighting and walking, they rarely had breaks anymore. Their time spent resting every night was getting cut shorter and shorter, sometimes on purpose and sometimes from attacks by darkspawn that roused the whole camp. Venowen didn’t have the heart to wake him, not when everything was calm.

 

Instead, she stroked Tathas’s fur and looked at their map. Their next stop was Orzammar to conscript the help of the dwarves, but because of all the refugees, the Imperial Highway through Gherlen’s Pass was not an option. There was a river the Imperial Highway crossed around the middle of Lake Calahad, but she feared it would take too much time. She continued looking for another path, but the scale told her that it was the river, the Pass, or a darkspawn invasion on Ferelden before they were ready for it. She still had a few days to decide, but her options were limited.

 

Venowen hoped that Orzammar would be a quick in-and-out job, but so far, that was the opposite of their luck. Venowen doubted the Circle could have been in worse shape, half the elves were dying from a curse their own Keeper created, Eamon was poisoned and a demon possessing his mage son almost killed everyone in the village, and they had to fight and kill a whole town of lunatics to save Eamon from death. If the dwarves had their shit together, Venowen might pass out from the shock.

 

Venowen had to stifle a laugh when she thought about the Landsmeet. Eamon wanted to put Alistair on the throne, despite how vehemently against it Alistair was. Their evidence against Loghain was nonexistent, and Eamon depicted Anora as a wild card. As always, Venowen was the one who had to act the leader and advocate against Loghain, which meant that she, a city elf who murdered the son of the Arl of Denerim and knew absolutely nothing about politics, had to garner enough support from the nobles of Ferelden to remove Loghain, the beloved King Maric’s best friend and one of the driving forces that ended the Orlesian occupation in Ferelden, from regent. She hoped Eamon would provide more support than he said he would because if not, the Landsmeet would most definitely be disastrous.

 

Venowen’s despairing was cut short by Alistair fidgeting and whimpering. His head shook, and it sounded like he was trying to call out for someone, but it was too quiet for Venowen to tell what he was saying. He kicked one of his legs, and he elbowed Venowen in the side just hard enough for her to wince.

 

She sighed. He was having another blighted dream. Since Lothering, they both had the dreams more regularly, and it was growing more intense the bigger the blight got. She slept less anyhow from her leadership duties, but it seemed like she had another dream every time she shut her eyes.

 

Venowen ran her fingers through Alistair’s hair, trying to comfort him while she waited for him to wake up. Once the thrashing started, he only had a few more minutes before he woke up. Still, he continued whimpering and kicking, and she wished she could do more for him. It was harder to just watch as someone else endured the dreams than to be the one having them.

 

He woke with a start, sitting upright and looking around, his hand going for where his sword would be if it was strapped to his back rather than lying on the ground by his side. When he realized there was only woods around them, he eased back against the rock, shut his eyes, and sighed.

 

Venowen strung her fingers through his and rubbed circles with her thumb into his hand. “Another dream?” she asked, knowing the answer.

 

He nodded his head, his eyes still closed. “Yeah. They just keep getting worse. The archdemon must be close.”

 

“Hopefully getting help from the dwarves won’t take long, and we can get back to Redcliffe as soon as possible.”

 

Alistair chuckled and leaned his head back onto Venowen’s shoulder. “I bet you five silvers that the place will be on fire when we get there.”

 

Venowen rolled her eyes. “Maybe the entire place will be consumed by lava and the King will tell us that we have to fix it and save everyone who died before they’ll offer to help us.”

 

“That’s basically what happened in Redcliffe village, though I am glad we saved as many people as we did.”

 

“We’re just that great: we save people from walking corpses and wolves that can talk.”

 

He laughed, and they were quiet for a moment. Venowen looked up at the sky: it was a clear night, and every single star could be seen. Venowen didn’t know any constellations, but all the little lights looked beautiful anyway.

 

“I love you, Ven.”

 

She squeezed his hand and looked at him. “I love you too, Ali. So much.”

 

“I don’t know how this is going to end, but if we both make it—and Maker, I hope we do—I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

 

She closed her eyes. _Red, everywhere, on her hands, on her dress, on the floor, on Nesiara. Clutching her fiancée as she choked on her own blood before going limp in her arms, Soris all but dragging her away. Today was supposed to be happy._ “I can’t get married again, not after what happened.”

 

“We don’t have to get married. I don’t care about that. I just want to be with you, Ven, for the rest of my life. If you want that too.”

 

Venowen looked back at the stars in the sky. One of them flashed brighter. “I do want that. I really do.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> I am aveline-the-dragon-slayer on Tumblr.


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